Canadian Constitutional Documents

A Legal History

(C) Copyright 1994-2011 William F. Maton

Quota pars operis tanti nobis committur? -
Seneca

Memory - A practical quality which
allows us to weigh what has already been done against what might
be done now. Memory is therefore a key to responsible
action....Romanticism is a fantasized version of the past.
Unpleasant events and personal or national failures are erased,
while comforts and successes are exaggerated. Or wrongs may be
exaggerated and comforts and successes erased. On either side
romanticism is intended to energize false hopes. In its most
exaggerated form it denies the relevance of memory and constructs
free-standing abstract ideologies. - John Ralston Saul

Please read the following disclaimer first, then check what's new at this archive,
the last modification having been made on 1 September, 2011 (always check
what's new first!!), or go to the top of
the archive.

Disclaimer

These documents are provided as a service
to Canadians and others interested in Canada, who regularly
travel the net and who are curious in regards to, "what the
fuss is all about." This "collection" is merely
here for reference only.If you have
a legal question regarding the constitutional validity of a law,
or any other legal questions, please consult a lawyer.

Every effort has been made to reproduce
these documents accurately. However, since these documents were
obtained through either OCR (Optical Character Recognition),
through the Internet from other sources or otherwise hand-typed,
errors of various sorts may occur. Please send e-mail if you find any, thank
you.

This service is not in any way connected
to or funded by the Government of Canada, its agencies, or crown
corporations. This is simply a service provided by the author in
his spare time as a free reference.

Preface

Unlike the majority of countries whose basic law derives from
one document, Canada's basic law derives not only from a set of
documents known as Constitution Acts, but also a set of unwritten
laws and conventions. This comprises of all the acts passed since
1867 up to and including 2001. As a result, all constitutional
documents during that time period have the force of law. This is
analogous to laying a foundation (Constitution
Act, 1867) and then building upon it and modifying it as the need
arises (the successive Acts and Orders).

Finally, one cannot overlook the great expanse of opinion from many
people. Arguments for and against constitutional change are constantly
thrown into the public forum, and here a
small extract can be found.

Documents as related to the Provinces

Still, one can argue that this archive is incomplete, without even
regarding documents relating to the evolution of a province, legally,
politically and historically. To this end, there is a separate place devoted to that
presentation.

Formatting Notes

As you browse through each document, notice how in many of the older
enactments the nouns tend to be capitalized: This was a tradition carried
from the United Kingdom and was later dropped by Canada.

Also note that within these documents, at nearly the top of each of these,
you will find a date in parentheses. This is the date when the document
was given Royal Assent (i.e., proclaimed into law).

N. B. These documents are the English
versions. A committee was struck years ago to have them translated into an
official French version, but to the best of my knowledge, it handed in its
report to
Parliament in 1990. Apparently the report was then distributed
to the provinces as part of a process to introduce a Parliamentary
resolution, but the political climate of the 1990's has halted that
process. Interestingly enough, this report's recommended translations has
come into
question.

Contributions (particularly for French language versions) to this project
are welcome. I have some more plans for this, so stay tuned! Please see
the Acknowledgments for a list of contributors who
have helped along the way. Any comments are appreciated.

The base document
of the Canadian Constitution. United Upper
Canada (Ontario), Lower Canada (Quebec), Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick creating the Dominion of
Canada. Created a U.K.
style parliament: a House of Commons and a
Senate. Section 56
allowed for a Power of Disallowance which gave
the Governor General the right to revoke a
federal law within two years after it was enacted
(In the case of a province, the Lieutenant
Governor had one year). Section 57
permitted the Governor General to withhold assent
to a bill for a period of two years, after which
the legislation would not become law (Again, in
the case of a province, the Lieutenant Governor
had one year). Section 90
applied sections 53-57 to the provinces. Section 91
provided for federal powers, while section 92
laid out the powers for the provinces. Section 93
guaranteed denominational education, as well as
education in general to be the jurisdiction of
the provinces. Neither a
domestic amending formula nor a 'bill of rights'
included.Schedule 6 was inserted by the
Constitution Act, 1982 to give the provinces juridiction
over the environment.

A British Law empowering
the Queen to accept all lands belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company and
the North-Western Territory (as it was then called) become, at a later
date and at the United Kingdom's discretion, part of the Dominion of
Canada.

The actual Royal Order
declaring that Rupert's Land become a part of Canada, effective July 15,
1870.Contained resolutions of
the House of Commons and the Senate of Canada petitioning for the
admission of the territories into the Dominion of Canada, plus several
memoranda.Contains a deed of
surrender, detailing districts, trading posts and acreages.Set conditions that the
Canadian government was to allow Hudson's Bay Company to trade without
hinderance, and to pay them compensation, plus allow the Company the
right to claim blocks of land of specific sizes for their own use under
certain conditions and in certain areas.Relieved Hudson's Bay
Company of any unsettled Indian Claims, effectively making it the
responsiblity of the Canadian Government.

Created the
province of Alberta.This law created
the administration and the government and
designated Edmonton as its capitol.Allowed the
province to abolish the jurisdiction of the
Supreme Court of the North-west Territories so it
could create its own superior court later.Created a system
of subsidies to be provided by the federal
government to the province.Specified that
all remaining assets and liabilities of the
North-west Territories be divided equally with
Saskatchewan.

Removed
legislative authority of Parliament in the United
Kingdom over the Dominions (Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa, and Newfoundland),
with the following exception: As the Canadian
delegation had been unable to settle on an
amending formula, the existing scheme (i.e. a
simple British law, subject to amendment by the U.K.) was
retained.

Describes the
office of Governor General of Canada Defines the role
of the Governor General in relation to the
monarchy and government. Specifies method
of succession to the office in case of death or
incapacity. Defines other
powers to be exercised by the Governor General.

Admitted the last
British North American colony to the Dominion of
Canada, making it the tenth province. Gave religious
entities special power over education, according
to Term 17, which was the subject of a referendum
in 1995.

A very broad Act
which repealed many laws enacted by the
Parliaments of England, Great Britain, and the
United Kingdom, some dating from before 1800. In Canada's case,
section 118 of the Constitution Act, 1867, was
repealed.

Last Act of the
United Kingdom Parliament containing the English
and French versions of the Constitution Act, 1982 From that time
on, the United Kingdom Parliament relinquishes
the power to affect any Canadian laws, including
the Constitution.

Part of an act
which 'patriated' Canada's constitution, due to
Pierre E. Trudeau. Included a
domestic amending formula (7 provinces / 50% of
population, sections 38-49 - as proposed by the
Government of Alberta) plus a clause which
compels the Prime Minister to call a First
Minister's Conference to review this formula by
1997. (The amending formula has
been restricted for the federal government by the Constitutional
Amendments Act, S.C 1996, c. 1)Includes the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms (sections 1 to
34). Includes the
"Notwithstanding clause" allowing
governments to suspend the certain parts of the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms for renewable
5-year periods (section 33) [Which Quebec has
invoked for its language law, Bill 178, from
Dec. 88 - 1993]. Includes a
comprehensive schedule (a table) affecting many
constitutional documents, including repeals and
re-enactments. Never signed by
the separatist Quebec government of the day, or
even since then, but nevertheless is legally
binding throughout Canada. This is the first time the
Constitution of Canada formally mentions the existance
of the Prime Minister. No other Act explicitly creates
that office, demonstrating that parts of Canada's
Constitution is unwritten.

Entrenched the
recognition of rights obtained under aboriginal
land claims agreements. Committed all
governments to invite aboriginal and territorial
government representatives to conferences on
issues related to them.

Replaced section
51 of the Constitution Act, 1867. It did away with
the old, complex formula that the Mulroney
government claimed would have created too many
House of Commons seats, therefore costing more
money.

Amends the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms to include the
equality of the French and English linguistic
communities in New Brunswick. Includes a
provision for the New Brunswick legislature and
government to "preserve and promote the
status, rights and privileges," of those
communities.

Amends the Prince Edward Island Terms of Union
to recognize that the province can levy tolls for the use
of a, "fixed crossing joining the Island to the
mainland." (Specifically, Confederation Bridge.)

Repeals and replaces Term
17 of the Newfoundland
Act.Allows the government of
Newfoundland to take control of establishing and
continuing denominational and nondenominational schools.Proposal of the amendment
was approved by provincial referendum in the Fall of 1995.

Added Section 93A to the Constitution Act 1867, which excludes
Quebec from the section relating to the organization of schools in the
province (section 93). This gives it the sole power to determine the
system of education used there.Chief motive was to allow Quebec to
reorganize the school boards along linguistic lines.

Repeals and replaces Term
17 of the Newfoundland
Act.Further refines the
issue of denominational schools in Newfoundland.There is no mention of
denominational schools, so a single school system can be
established.Courses in religion are
guaranteed, including religious observances at the request
of parents.

Amends the Constitution
Act, 1867, to raise the number of senators to 105 from
104, to allow Nunavut to be represented by one Senator.Also raises the maximum
number of Senators to 113 from 112.Determines the fate of the
current Senator from the Northwest TerritoriesAmends section 51(2) so
that Nunavut is represented by one member of Parliament.Will come into force on
the same day as the Nunavut Act, on April 1, 1999.